SPMLs & EtOH

This is our first thoroughly followed series which became the 2 nd & 3 rd etc. as we tacked on another year, each year for 8 years. From 1990 to 1994 we cut off the series at 500 patient surgical sessions – many being multiple sites per session and limited to patients having growth expectation clipping at 13 = 12yo or younger. You can see that SPMLs done alone (with ethanol as needed but no open incisions) was just under half of the cases. Exhaustive study

costs were financed by the Summit Area Public Foundation. This in depth study of cost and outcome was headed by Sheila Walsh, APN [advanced practice nurse, now Dr. Walsh] who was in charge of our team doing the pre-op and post-op data evaluations and documentation which had a 100% patient follow up, that is, none were lost. Cost to family and hospital, operating time,

convalescence duration and scope, with preop PT evaluation & postoperative PT reevaluation (in house AND independent) revealed a very high functional gain with extremely low, almost nil, complications from SPML. Cases done